


For Keeps

by broedym



Series: Welcome to Resistance [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, DameRey, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Modern AU, doctor rey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:21:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22262521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/broedym/pseuds/broedym
Summary: Continuing The Path of Least Resistance... Six months after he got the hotel room for Rey, Poe graduates as a physician’s assistant. And it’s time to do something about the future.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Series: Welcome to Resistance [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1286873
Comments: 27
Kudos: 67





	For Keeps

**Author's Note:**

> I was supposed to publish this at Christmas and then the holidays got away from me. When I saw today’s #damereydaily2020 prompt, _There are so many lives I want to share with you / I won’t be complete until… I do,_ it seemed appropriate to post. 
> 
> For those who wanted it, here’s the actual proposal. <3
> 
> [To recap the previous stories: Rey is a medical resident who gets stuck in the small town of Resistance, meets single father Poe when she’s forced to perform community service in their clinic. Sparks fly, and despite her long-held desire to become a wealthy surgeon in LA she chooses to return and have a life as well as a career in Resistance. A year later that includes the realization that she’ll say yes when Poe proposes.]

The morning of Poe’s graduation celebration dawned bright. The clear day promised just enough sunshine to make a partial outdoor gathering viable in early December, though Rey still had her doubts. Kes assured her the locals would be fine – there was a little snow on the ground already, but it was hardly the kind of cold to drive them indoors. And he’d been known to fire up the grill when there was deep drifts and the lake was frozen.

The fact that Poe had graduated from his physician assistant program mid-term meant a chillier celebration than Rey would have liked, but he was so happy to be finished she didn’t want to put a dampener on the festivities. Their Saturday morning was busily spent preparing the house for guests that afternoon, and as she had the whole weekend off herself, Rey’s mood was also high. No hospital rotations, no clinic duties. She was halfway through her residency and time off was rare. She was determined to enjoy herself.

Her favorite CD was blasting out of the old player in the kitchen while she prepped chicken for Kes to cook. He left her to break down the whole birds, her skills with a scalpel coming in handy as she made quick work of the butchering while she sang along to the music. Bea was ferrying plates and cutlery into the living room while providing regular updates on the weather and the likelihood of more snow that evening. She wasn’t as supportive of Rey’s song choices, letting her feelings be known with frequent groans. Nor, it seemed, was Poe when he arrived home with more food for the party.

“Are you really still listening to this?” he asked with a shake of his head as he deposited another large box in the kitchen.

“What? I like it,” Rey replied with a shrug. 

Months ago she had pestered him into letting her have some of his band CD’s that had been stacked in the basement. These days he played occasionally at Finn’s bar, usually with a couple of other guys from town because he said it was more fun that way. Sometimes, though, it was just him and his guitar which Rey always preferred. 

“I offered to set you up on Spotify,” Poe reminded her as he unpacked the groceries. "Expand your musical horizons from 90's hits and my old shit."

“Maybe I always wanted to date a guy in a band,” she said with a quirk of an eyebrow. 

“Instead you got a 35-year-old single father. Score!”

When he sidled up to her Rey threw her arms around his neck, avoiding his shirt with her raw chicken hands and the knife she was holding. “You still got it.”

He grinned and pulled her hips against his. “Oh yeah? I used to have long hair and smoke a pack a day back then. I could always…”

“Don’t even think about the cigarettes,” Rey warned, pulling away and pointing the knife at him. 

“Yes, doc,” Poe replied contritely. He kissed her once the implement was out of the way and her expression relaxed. He did it again when she leaned into him and he slipped an arm around her waist, humming into her mouth. “What’re you doing later?”

Before Rey had a chance to reply Bea came back into the kitchen with Porgy following at her heels.

“Ewww,” she commented with a roll of her eyes. “People will be here soon.”

“Yeah, ew,” agreed Rey, twisting away and giving him a shove with her hip for good measure. “Go make yourself useful.”

Poe smirked as he looked between her and his disdainful daughter. “Fine. I guess I’ll go help Kes with the lights.”

“You want to help me with this, Bea?” Rey asked after he left.

“No, thank you,” she replied haughtily, still a staunch vegetarian. 

“Rose and Finn are coming early so you can play with Ray,” she suggested as she went back to the chicken and Bea sat down at the table with a sigh. 

“He’s too little to play with.”

While Bea had resignedly accepted a boy for a cousin, at 18 months Ray was deemed too dull a companion. She preferred the company of the grownups, she’d announced, at least until he could hold a conversation. 

Rey gave her other jobs to do around the kitchen and they worked to clean up for Kes, and then they finished adorning the living room and porch in graduation balloons and streamers which made for an eclectic look with the Christmas decorations that were already up. 

Poe maintained he didn’t want a fuss made but Kes had insisted on the party and Rey and Bea agreed. The fact that they’d just celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas was a few weeks away was irrelevant – no one wanted his achievement to be overlooked among the holidays. For Kes that involved inviting half the town, it felt like to Rey, as people started arriving. 

It was no great surprise, everyone knew everyone in Resistance. And thanks to a variety of circumstances and one conniving mayor, Rey was their doctor. At least, she would be officially as soon as she finished her residency and took over Doc Skywalker’s practice. She did sometimes wonder at how things had turned out, especially as she stood greeting friends and patients both. How she’d ended up in a town little bigger than the one she’d grown up in, when she had always imagined herself in a large, anonymous city. How she was accepted as an integral part of that community, and felt responsible for its care. Most of all, how she had a proper family who accepted and loved her despite her shortcomings. Rey wondered about it sometimes, and tried to always be thankful.

Some days that was easier than others, and as introverted as she was the party could have been one of those harder times. But Rey felt contented as she passed between the congregated groups to hand around appetizers and carried more food between the kitchen and grill out back where Kes was cooking up a storm. Poe played bartender and was the center of attention as he received the congratulations of their friends. And Bea, despite her earlier protests, followed dotingly after her young cousin as the toddler went exploring. 

The party went off without a hitch, Rey was pleased to see. Kes gave a suitably embarrassing speech to accompany the graduation cake he’d baked, which left Poe red faced and begging him to stop when more than one story from his earlier college days was recounted. No one got too drunk to make a fool of themselves, though Leia bundled the Judge into the Falcon a little earlier than planned and had Chewie drive them home before there was an incident. 

Most importantly Poe enjoyed himself, which is all she cared about. She didn’t mind that he was a little drunk himself by the time the last of their friends left that evening, even though she never touched alcohol herself anymore. Usually Poe didn’t either, mostly in support of her. Rey didn’t begrudge him the desire to let loose for once, and would be damned if her own issues would affect Poe, too. 

They made a half-hearted attempt to get the house in order, then an exhausted Kes declared it could wait until morning. Rey saw Bea to bed and came back downstairs to find Poe sitting amongst the mess in the living room and decided she couldn’t face it either. She sat down next to him with a sigh.

“It was a good party,” Poe said, stretching out to rest his feet on the coffee table.

“Yes, it was.” Rey mirrored his stance and sank back against the numerous sofa cushions.

“Thank you for today,” he murmured, his face turned to hers as he smiled lazily.

“You deserved it.”

“I’m just glad it’s over.” 

“The party?” she queried.

“All of it. I’m tired.”

“Not too tired, I hope. I haven’t finished with you yet.”

“Oh yeah?” Poe’s smile turned lascivious and he leaned into her. “I haven’t finished with you either.”

Rey snorted after she got up and he slid face first into the couch where she’d been sitting. She held out her hand to him. “Come with me.”

He said nothing when she went to the mud room rather than upstairs, and they got into their boots and coats at her insistence like they often did at night when they went out walking. Poe clearly had other ideas when he draped an arm around her and planted open-mouthed kisses on her neck as soon as they were outside in the crisp night air. 

“Come on,” Rey said and led the way down the porch steps. When she headed towards the lake Poe tugged at her hand. 

“Are we really going for a walk?” he asked with a soft groan. “I can think of something more fun.” 

He cocked his head towards the guest house and gave her a smirk that would usually have her rolling her eyes while at the same time igniting a spark of desire. It wasn’t the first time they’d snuck out of the main house to avoid impressionable young ears, or those of a surprisingly alert older gentleman. Privacy was one thing they lacked and the guest house afforded them that. This time, however, Rey shook her head. 

She tucked her arm through his as they walked on. “I have some things I want to say first. Kes got to make his speech before, now it’s my turn.” 

Poe wasn’t adept at hiding his disappointment in his current state and grumbled until they ended up at the dock a short distance from the house. It was festooned with lights that reflected off the black water below that had yet to freeze over, which matched the starry sky that seemed brighter at that time of year. Rey positioned him by the shoulders so he was squarely in front of her.

“You could’ve made a speech at the party,” Poe pointed out, though they both knew the likelihood of that was slim to none. “Saved me from the embarrassment that was Kes’s.” 

“Never going to happen. You need to stop talking now. Ready?”

“Okay, fine.” He sighed and made a beckoning gesture, as he smothered a smile. “Hit me with it. I can always do with more praise.”

Rey took a breath. “Okay, here goes. Poe…”

“Mmm. You look pretty.”

“Shhh. I want you to know how proud I am of you and everything you’ve accomplished. You worked so hard, you got your degree while juggling work, looking after our patients, raising Bea, and putting up with me.”

Poe opened his mouth to either protest or make a smart ass comment. Rey silenced him with a stern look so she wouldn’t have to find out which. He wisely settled his features so she continued.

“It hasn’t always been easy but you never complained. You always made me feel loved and I belonged. That I had a family. You know all the shit I’ve been through and why it’s been difficult for me sometimes, but you didn’t give up on me.”

Rey reached out and took hold of both his hands. They were impossibly warm against the cold night air. He was always warm, no matter how freezing it got. She relied on it whenever she got back late from the hospital, after the long drive she never felt like taking but it led home to him. He would try to stay awake and invariably fail, falling asleep with a textbook open on his chest. The sight of him, open mouthed and snoring slightly in the dim light was all she ever needed to feel comforted. Rey had come to the realization some time ago. She took a step towards him now and squeezed his hands.

“I want you to know how much I appreciate it, everything you do for me. I always notice, sweetheart, even if I don’t say it. I want you to know how much I love you, more than I ever thought I was capable of. Thank you for loving me back.”

“Easiest thing I ever did,” Poe assured her kindly.

They were just words, and couldn’t possibly be true, but she appreciated them nonetheless. She closed the remaining distance between them and tilted her mouth up into his in a tender kiss. 

“It was a good speech, doc,” he murmured against her lips.

Rey pulled back to look at him properly, her eyes scanning his face. She shook her head slowly. 

“I’m not finished," she said, as a calm descended upon her. "Poe, I want you to know how much all of it means to me. How much you mean to me. And I want you to marry me.”

He froze, and the faint, drunken smile he had been wearing disappeared in an instant. She actually heard him gulp. 

“What?”

Rey tried again, a little more self-consciously. “Will you marry me?” 

“No!” he replied, looking horror-struck. “No, no, no, no, no… Shit!”

Her eyes flicked down to their joined hands and she let go. “Oh. Okay. That wasn’t exactly the reaction I was hoping for.”

“No, I don’t mean shit because you proposed,” Poe said, sounding anxious and exasperated at once. He raked his hands through his hair. “I was going to do it, I had it all planned! I was just waiting until the perfect moment...”

Rey felt relief wash through her as he let out another groan and doubled over dramatically, still swearing under his breath. 

“When was that supposed to be, exactly? This perfect moment?” she asked, her tone sardonic.

He straightened up and sighed, his shoulders dropping. “When I knew for sure I wouldn’t mess it up? I wanted it to be memorable.”

“I don’t know, your reaction was pretty memorable.” Rey couldn’t hide her grin when his face registered regret. “I think your exact words were ‘no, no, no, shit’.”

Poe covered his eyes but she tugged his hand away and made him look at her.

“I had a whole speech of my own,” he admitted.

“Oh yeah?”

“I can’t remember any of it just now.” Poe scrubbed at the back of his neck in frustration. Then his expression softened when she continued to smile at him. “Except the bit about you being the love of my life.”

“I’ll take it,” Rey said with a beaming smile before stepping in to kiss him. Poe enveloped her in his arms and held on tightly.

“I don’t need perfect. Just you,” she whispered, her lips brushing his ear. “I love you.”

Poe was smiling too as he pulled away just far enough that he could cup her face as he gazed at her. “God, I love you. I wanted to ask you a dozen times, you know that.” 

“Too bad! I asked you first,” Rey replied in a sing-song voice, before she grew more serious. “Though, and I really feel like I shouldn’t have to point this out, you _actually_ haven’t answered me yet.”

He broke into a full grin. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Will you marry me, doc? Dr. Rey Kenobi of Resistance.”

After a casual shrug her mouth twitched. “Okay.”

Poe kissed her soundly to seal the promise then peppered her cheeks with warm pecks until Rey chuckled and swatted him away. 

The mirth drained from Poe’s face then as he looked skyward and closed his eyes. “Shit. Bea is going to kill us for doing this without her. She was part of the whole proposal plan.”

A frown settled on Rey’s face at the thought. “Is she alright with this? You talked it through with her properly?”

“Of course she is. She loves you.”

Rey knew it, but she still felt relieved that it wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Though the two of them had always been close, marriage was a formal step that she wanted to know Bea was comfortable with. 

“Kes will be the emotional one when he finds out, since he takes credit for our entire relationship,” Poe said wryly. “He still thinks it was his picnic lunch that brought us together, the first time we did house calls.”

Rey didn’t mind rewriting a bit of their romantic history, given the reality involved moonshine and a one night stand. She’d had no idea then what they would end up becoming, or how much richer her life would be once she found her family with Poe, Bea and Kes. She hated to even think about how she might have ended up if she’d stayed in LA. Though it had taken some adjusting and still did, Rey wouldn’t have it any other way.

She pulled at Poe’s coat collar after she stepped back into his arms. “I still think we should wait until my residency’s finished before we get married.”

“Whatever you want,” he readily agreed.

“It just seems sensible. We have to work out running the clinic together and I’ll be doing my board certification after that.”

“Of course.”

Rey tried to match his soft, assured smile but she was unsure. “You don’t mind? Even if it means waiting longer on the other thing?”

The idea of having children, something she’d once assumed she would never do thanks to her difficult upbringing and concerns about bad genes, was a topic they’d discussed at length in the preceding few months. Rey, thanks to ongoing therapy, was able to open up more about her trepidation about repeating the mistakes of her addicted parents who’d repeatedly abandoned her as a child. She was able to recognize her maternal instincts were already present in the way she loved and looked after Bea. 

Poe rubbed his thumb gently across her cheek. “We’ve got time.”

Rey pressed her face into his neck and held on. 

He didn’t judge her for her self doubt, for her fears. She knew he didn’t necessarily agree with them but he didn’t discount them. Rey was getting better at accepting her past, including her parents’ failings that were not guaranteed to be her own. She hadn’t worked her way up to forgiveness just yet, but it didn’t feel impossible anymore. 

A cold wind picked up around them and even Poe wasn’t immune. He kept one arm wrapped around her as they headed back inside until Rey, with a soft smile, steered them towards the guest house instead. 

☤ ☤ ☤

The next morning Rey woke up alone in their bedroom. She was usually up before Poe even on a day off. It had been a late night though, and she smiled to herself at the memory as she stretched under the comforter. The smile remained while she showered and dressed, then padded down the stairs in search of the others.

The living room was still a mess after the party but when she walked into the dining area Rey found a decorated table set for breakfast and three Damerons looking suspiciously nonchalant as they stood in a line next to it. She stopped in the doorway.

“Good morning,” Rey said hesitantly.

“Morning,” Poe replied while Kes could barely contain his grin. 

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Breakfast!” Kes exclaimed. “Breakfast will be ready soon.”

“But first,” Poe said, nudging Bea’s shoulder, “we have something for you.”

Bea stepped forward with a card that she had made herself which included a drawing of their family. Inside tied with ribbon was a ring. Rey’s mouth dropped open in surprise. Poe had said nothing the previous night and she figured all of his talk of planning a proposal hadn’t included an actual engagement ring, which she didn’t care about, not really. Now she saw it – a simple white gold band adorned with three small diamonds – Rey realized that she cared more than she thought. 

Poe’s smile was infectious when he helped her undo the ribbon and slipped the ring onto her finger. Kes enveloped them both in a bear hug and gave effusive congratulations. When she went to hug Bea too, however, Rey saw that she was alone by the table looking serious. Poe noticed a second later as well.

“Bea? BB?” He held out an arm to her.

Bea shook her head. “I’d like to speak to Rey. Privately.”

Rey shot him a worried look, automatically assuming the worst. “You said you spoke to her,” she murmured under her breath.

“I did.”

Bea walked to the front door and got her coat, leaving Rey to cast a last glance at Poe and Kes before following her lead. They ended up on the porch and sat on one of the bench seats. Rey didn’t wait for her to speak. 

“Are you okay with all this, Bea?” she said, unable to keep from feeling nervous. “I know it’s a surprise. Poe didn’t know I was going to propose last night. I wasn’t sure I was going to do it until right before, either. But we’ve been talking about it for a while now…”

“I know. It’s not a surprise,” Bea replied evenly.

“I suppose I should have talked to you like this before I did it. I’m sorry about that. Is that why you’re upset?”

“I’m not upset. I’ve been thinking.”

“About what?”

“Are you going to have a baby?”

Rey snorted involuntarily. “No, honey, I’m not pregnant. That’s not why we’re getting married.”

“But you will one day.”

“We might. We’ve talked about that, too. I think I’d like to.” Rey paused, realizing it was the first time she had said it to anyone but Poe or her therapist. “Wouldn’t you want a sister or brother?”

“Yes. But when you have a baby and she starts talking she’ll call you mommy and daddy, not Rey and Poe like I do.”

Rey smiled at Bea’s assumption it would be a girl. “Probably.”

“Well. I know I can call Poe dad anytime I want to. So I wanted to know if it would be okay if I called you mom, too? That I could be your girl, and you could be my mom and not just my stepmom even though I’m nearly ten and will be grown up soon?”

Bea finished in a rush, her voice growing smaller as emotion got the better of her. Tears formed in Rey’s eyes and she had to stop herself from completely letting go. She didn’t want to frighten Bea but was so overwhelmed she didn’t know how to handle it. She swallowed hard against the painful lump in her throat and nodded.

“Nothing would make me more proud than to be your mom,” Rey managed to say. “I love you very much, Bea.”

The girl was already crying when she scrambled into Rey’s arms and said the words back. There was no stopping her own tears then, or her own untapped grief. She held onto Bea and cried for the loss of her own mother who never wanted her, and for the gift of the child who did. 

Bea pulled away, chin quivering. “I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

“You haven’t,” Rey said with a wet smile. “I promise, I don’t think I’ve had a happier day in my whole life.” 

Bea seemed satisfied with this and tucked herself under Rey’s chin when she hugged her again. “I think I’m going to like having a mother.”

They stayed outside together a while longer until Poe appeared at the door. 

“Is, um, is everything okay?” he asked, his voice laced with concern. His frown darkened when he saw that they’d both been crying.

“It’s fine, Poe,” Bea replied as she got up. “Is breakfast ready yet?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, I’m starving.” 

She ran past him into the house, leaving Rey who felt stiff and weary, to follow.

“What was that about?” he asked, going to her side and cupping her jaw. “Are you okay?”

Rey nodded. She couldn’t talk about it without crying again, not yet, and would tell him later. She took his hand from her cheek and held onto it.

“Let’s get married now,” she said instead. “Waiting is bullshit.”

Poe let out a breathy laugh, assuming she was joking, then realized she wasn’t. His dark eyes didn’t leave hers as he read the emotion in them, and the certainty. 

“I can call the Judge. I’ll marry you today,” he stated.

Rey smiled faintly. “It’s Sunday. The courthouse is closed.”

He scrunched up his nose as if this were a trivial detail. 

“What’re you doing tomorrow?” she asked.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Also, to all the authors contributing to the Damerey Daily 2020, you're amazing - I can't keep up with reading, let alone writing! Thank you for sustaining this blessed ship!


End file.
